am prepared to die. >> nelson mandela, lived to see a free democracy in south africa. this morning, his passing at age 95 means different things to people in different generations, from starting out as a lawyer and man of action to political prisoner to symbol to historic leader, to an icon and living legend. we will not only honor mandela but put him in historical perspective on this friday edition of "way too early." goo shaqman on this december 6th. we begin with nelson mandela. it would have been ground breaking enough to become south africa's first black president, but he was so much more not only to his own country but all over the world.

the long-time freedom fighter has died at the age of 95. madiba as he was known sacrificed decades of his own life in prison in an effort to win his countrymen freedom from the bonds of apartheid. mourning and tributes as you might imagine pouring in throughout the night from harlem to his hometown of johannesburg, south africa. it is all for a man who was prepared, as you heard, to die to bring democracy to a country where for so long it was denied. rohit kachroo joins us from south africa. >> reporter: the news of nelson mandela's death was announced late last night, just before midnight. inevitably people are still waking up and millions to hear the news that the father of this nation has passed away and this has become a focal point. the suburban home where nelson mandela spent many of his final years. ats first the news here was incredibly somber but overnight and over the last few hours, people have turned up here and there in the hundreds to lay

flowers, to sing songs from the anti-apartheid struggle. they've brought their families here as well and many people here are wondering precisely what happens next? waiting for news of the state procedure that goes on from here. we're expecting details later of a lying in state for nelson mandela and we're also expecting details of his burial today as well. one senior diplomat here in south africa who is familiar with the plan said that he expected that this would be the largest burial of a former leader since that of winston churchill. brian? >> thank you, rohit. rohit kachroo, a long overnight for him in south africa. nelson mandela and a lot of people don't know this, had a royal birth as the son of a tribal chief but quickly gave up that life to try to throw off minority apartheid rule in south africa. nbc's keith miller reports on the world's most famous political prisoner. >> reporter: the south africa that nelson mandela was born into more than nine decades ago,

will never be the same because of him. his life-long campaign for racial equality made him a hero to the people, and at one time, an an enemy of the state. mandela's tribal nail translates as the one who stirs up dust. mandela stirred up a storm fighting for democracy. >> it is an idea for which i am prepared to die. >> reporter: first arrested in 1962, mandela was eventually convicted of sabotaging conspiracy to overthrow the government. for 27 years prison bars confined the man, but not his cause. a generation that had never seen him, kept his campaign alive. in 1990, buckling under internal strife, and international sanctions the white minority government abandoned apartheid. >> the government has taken a

firm decision to release mr. mandela unconditionally. >> reporter: mandela emerged from behind bars without bitterness, to resume his campaign. >> africa. >> melson mandela sacrificed his personal freedom for our personal freedoms. >> reporter: his work was recognized with a nobel peace prize. as south africa's first black president, mandela remained a humble man. taking delight in a new york tickertape parade. dancing at a concert in his honor. meeting with world leaders and his civil rights hero. >> so help me god. >> reporter: as promised, he stepped down as president of south africa after serving just one term. >> south africa has been a despotic state through almost the whole of the 20th century. mandela's legacy stands against it. that is one of the best and most optimistic qualities that he hands to the people of south

africa. >> reporter: by all accounts, the measure of this man can be taken by what he wants to be remembered for. here lies nelson mandela said, a man whos has done his duty on earth. >> keith miller reporting. joining us the council on foreign relations richard haas. we talk a lot in vague terms how iconic and important he was. can you somehow crystallize it from a global perspective, his impact? >> just imagine if nelson mandela had been a different kind of person and south africa had gone into a bloody race war in which apartheid didn't end peacefully, but instead, had been a violent transition in which hundreds of thousands of people had died simply because of race. imagine what that would have meant, not just to south africa, which is one of the two most important countries on that continent but to our societies and other societies. >> i remember my older brother and sister were in college in the '80s and the divestment movement how that was a global

thing. he transformed a new road map to how you can make change to a new government? >> it sets an important message to reject vengeance, the idea of payback and instead to make people comfortable with difficult political change. you've got to always have leadership that is willing and able to do that sort of thing. and look at how many other parts of the world from the middle east to india and pakistan which have never had their equivalent of mandela and de klerk. >> it was a surprise, the african national conference was on a terror list under the reagan administration. there was not a feeling it was going to go this way. >> so much of history is ability two things, idea and people. nelson mandela embodied both. he had a big idea of peaceful transition and democracy and he was able to pull it off. he was able to both lead the black people of south africa and to reassure the africanos they could live with this new order. >> quickly, this has been underplayed a little bit in some

of the coverage. where does south africa stand today? >> that's in some ways the least positive part of mandela's legacy. he was only president for five years. this country of just over 50 million people. tremendous economic inequality. tremendous unemployment. still big problem from hiv/aids. you know, even though the per capita income isn't bad it's the inequality. it's not a thriving country. the future is still somewhat uneasy. that said incomparably better than what it might have been. >> it's a democracy. richard haas, see you on "morning joe" in a few minutes. thank you very much. we want your thoughts on the life of nelson mandela and what it means to you. tweet us using the #mandela and we will put some of the best responses on the air a little bit later in the show. i do want to get to a few other headlines this morning starting with president obama sitting down with "hardball's" chris mathews for an interview addressing an audience of mostly young americans, the president spoke about why they should sign up for health care. >> there's some resistance out there among young people, i've seen it in the polls, to enroll

in the exchanges and get involved in taking responsibility for their health care. what's your argument why they should do that? >> well first of all, i understand why people would have been resistant to go on a website that wasn't working right. at some point let's say when you turn 26, if you're between jobs or you've got a passion, you're wanting to start a business, and you're not going to have health insurance, this gives you the opportunity to get high quality health insurance and for most people under 30, it's probably going to cost you less than your cell phone bill or your cable bill. less than 100 bucks. >> also the white house changing its story about the relationship between president obama and his uncle omar. the issue resurfaced on tuesday when omar obama took the witness stand in a massachusetts courtroom. during his testimony omar said his nephew, the president of the united states, had briefly stayed with him in the 1980s. the elder mr. obama was facing deportation linked to a drunk

driving arrest in august of 2011. however at the time white house officials told "the boston globe" there was no record that the president ever met his uncle. yesterday press secretary jay carney explained why the administration said the two never met. >> back when this arose, folks looked at the record, including the president's book, and there was no evidence that they had met. and that was what was conveyed. nobody spoke to the president. when omar obama said the other day -- and there were reports he said the other day -- that president obama, back when he was a law school student had stayed with him in cambridge, i thought it was the right thing to do to go ask him. >> carney went on to say the white house had zero involvement in the case and the president has not seen his uncle in 20 years. as for omar obama, an immigration judge said he could stay in the country because he qualified for permanent residency. the man once call

called america's top cop back in the big apple. new york mayor elect bill deblass yo announced bill bratton as new yorks's police commissioner. he ran the police force 20 years ago and he vowed to repair the relationship between officers and minority neighborhoods amid the nypd's controversial stop and frisk program, a tactic he has embraced in the pass while the incoming mayor has criticized it, bratton said a book he read when he was 9 will guide him on his new beat. >> i checked this thing out so often that i don't think anybody else in boston ever saw it. it is a book about the new york city police department of 1956 and i loved the title "your police." in this city, i want every new yorker to talk about their police, my police, with respect and with confidence that they are going to be respected.

>> bratton has led the boston and los angeles police departments. pope francis bringing another big change to the catholic church. the pontiff just launching a commission to prevent priests from sexually abusing young children and to help children who were victims of abuse. the new pope has faced some criticism on how he's handled this issue. critics say the commission is essentially a band-aid for a much bigger problem. the commission is expected to be made up of priests, nuns and experts from across the world. it was announced by the archbishop of boston sean o'malley. that scandal helped raise awareness about this particular issue. still ahead on "way too early" he may wind up being the top pick in the nfl draft and it was quite a night for teddy bridgewater and louisville. the play you'll need to see yet again. and the ice storm come. the weather wreaking havoc across a large part of this country. bill karins will stop by with your forecast. we'll be right back.

>> a free concert by the rolling stones with security provided by the hell's angels turned into a fiasco and then a tragedy as the bikers turned violent and a black man was knifed to death. did you get chips for the party? nope. [ ding ] cheese plate? cheese plate. no, i made something better.

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time for some sports. texans and jaguars on thursday night football. jacksonville going from basically the worst in the nfl to having the longest winning streak in the a fc. chad henne two touchdown passes but the play of the game this trickery, flips it over to ace sanders and finds jordan toddman, pride of the university of connecticut. the texans have lost 11 in a row. gary kubiak might be out of a job soon. college football, number 19 louisville at cincinnati last

night going to the fourth quarter, cardinals down 14-10. >> bridgewater, gets away again, now heaves it up, he's got a man in the end zone, touchdown, louisville. damon copeland. >> sweet play. this one would go to overtime. >> can he play for the jets next week or sunday? >> he might do all right for the jets actually. a two-yard run into the end zone, the game winner 31-24, louisville is the final. some other news this off the field, florida state jameis winston will not face charges after an fsu student accused him of sexual assault last december. yesterday the state attorney said there is not enough evidence to file charges. the decision now clears the way for the heisman trophy candidate to finish the season with the top ranked seminoles and they play duke of all teams in the acc championship game on saturday. let's go to bill karins. obviously dealing with some major weather going into the

weekend. travel could be snarled but i mean maybe not a lot of people need to go anywhere. >> hopefully not. i've read i think 1200 flights have been canceled in the last two days alone and on the east coast it's weird this morning, almost 70 in atlanta to start the morning and in new york city it's 61 degrees. >> foggy coming in. >> very foggy. new england be careful driving out there. the big story is the ice storm and the people that are in arkansas and tennessee, they're losing power at this hour because of the tree limbs falling down. the storm yesterday rolled into oklahoma towards the tail end of the rush hour and it caused its trouble there. we had a lot of snow, we had a little sleet and then snowed on top of it. nothing worse than getting a little ice and snow on top. look at the map here, these are our warnings and watches and advisories. we have the big ice storm and snow from oklahoma city to dallas all the way up into areas of western new york. we had dangerous windchills all through the northern plains and a new winter storm that's going to move into california today which that one by the way could even bring snow to areas like philadelphia, d.c., new york, and washington, d.c. on sunday.

not a significant event, but still, that's the next one in the wings. as far as the worst right now, overnight the icing has been really bad in arkansas and it tennessee where the trees are coming down this hour, roads closed, schools closed. snow in southern portions of missouri. snowing pretty good in oklahoma city at 19 degrees. it is bitterly cold on the back side of the storm. dallas has had an inch of sleet overnight. they didn't get a lot of freezing rain so that's good for them. sleet is better than dealing with the freezing rain that coats everything. notice how far this extends. schools canceled in indianapolis where it snowed three inches last night and ohio has gotten snow around columbus and now it's snowing in areas of western new york. so i mean this continues up into new england later on today and as the cold air moves in, it's not going to melt any time soon. areas like dallas won't go above freezing for three or four days. whatever ice is out there on the ground is going to be there through friday, saturday and sunday. as far as the snow, a narrow strip of six to seven inches of

snow south of indianapolis, south of st. louis but could come up between cleveland and pittsburgh also and as i said before, the east coast it's mostly a rain event for us. temperatures will fall. i mentioned it's very warm this morning. cold front goes through and it will fall into the 40s later today. bring the jacket. >> thank you very much, bill. coming up at the top of the hour, "morning joe," continuing coverage, of course, on the life and passing of the great nelson mandela. among our guests the reverend al sharpton, mandela biographer richard stengle and nbc's tom brokaw. and when we come back here, we'll huddle around the cooler. ron burgundy, i know, but this one is actually -- this is a good one. he's getting a little tired on the promotional road but he's also a sports aficionado. his take on the doug flutie hail mary call when "way too early" comes right back. [ fishing rod casting line, marching band playing ] [ male announcer ] the rhythm of life. [ whistle blowing ] where do you hear that beat? campbell's healthy request soup

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touchdown, touchdown, touchdown. touchdown boston college. he did it, he did it. flutie did it. he got in the end zone. touchdown, oh, my goodness. what a play. flutie to gerard. 48 yards. no time on the clock. it's all over and if i have to put money on who's going to be more successful in their career it's gerard failen. this flutie guy is lucky he had the ability to catch that lame duck pass of his. it's going to be gerard failen all the way. put him in the hall of fame. flutie i don't know who this kid is, but gerard, he's gorgeous looking. >> the first two-thirds of that is the actual script from the radio call that dan davis had which is amazing and i only know it because i've watched that highlight about 450 times. pretty good across the board. i think that whole last third was ad libbed. jon stewart keeping an eye on the demonstrations pushing for

higher wages at fast food restaurants across the country. >> fast food workers in about 100 cities are staging a strike demanding higher wages. the largest effort yet in the push for more money. workers say it's nearly impossible to survive on a full-time salary of $7.25 an hour. >> the wages are so low that some fast food workers have had to resort to a life of crime. or worse. prostitution. you got a pretty mouth there, grimace. >> young people don't know the hamburgler. they don't see them in the ads too much. >> still ahead on "way too early," of course, we are sharing your thoughts on nelson mandela and "morning joe" is just moments away. before using her new bank of america credit card,

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♪ >> of course sun city was a famous resort in south africa and a lot of artists in the '80s pledged not to play it until apartheid was ended. and earlier in the show we asked for your thoughts on the life of nelson mandela as we say good-bye to you this morning. let's go to some famous people first. russell simmons, the greatest glory in living lies not in never falling but in rising every time we fall. as is a quote from mandela. r.i.p. nelson mandela. larry king, sad to hear about the passing of nelson mandela. he was the greatest figure of the 21st century. a fascinating man. actress olivia mun. to be free is not merelies to cast off one's chains but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. r.i.p. nelson mandela. our viewers chiming in, gary says rather than succumb to justifiable anger and bitterness mandela devoted his energies

towards a bitter world. pierce, changed a country, continent, a world, not bad for 59 years. i go back to my high school years when they were trying to get all the major conglomerates >> everyone has their own sort of memories of nelson mandela. we'll have more on this on "morning joe" which starts right now. ♪ ordinary love >> i build a society in which all both black and white can walk tall without any fear in their hearts. assured of their right to human dignity, a rainbow nation at